Supporting Actress Smackdowns, All Episodes
Sunday, August 5, 2018 at 10:38PM by Nathaniel R
The Supporting Actress Smackdown began at StinkyLulu's dearly departed blogspot many years ago. We revived the series here for summertime airings with his blessing a few years ago, and get this, there are only 25 years that haven't been visited. If you axe the years that are too recent for retrospectives and remove the years that have a missing film (neither streaming nor available on DVD) than we're down to only 12 years that we can visit!
In total 56 years have been reviewed. In those Smackdowns, the rotating panel has agreed with Oscar 48% of the time (if you count ties that included the Oscar winner as agreement. Though Oscar has never had a tie in a Supporting category there have been six ties at the Smackdown.) Herewith an index of where we've been and where we might go next...
Hattie McDaniel with her Supporting Oscar plaque (it was a plaque for the supporting winners until 1943)
ALL THE SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWNS TO DATE
Bold = Smackdowns from the "sequel" series conducted here at TFE.
Asterisk = Smackdowns that were done concurrently with the Oscar race, not as retrospectives.
1930s
- 1936 -Oscar: Gale Sondegaard in Anthony Adverse; Smackdown: Bonita Granville in These Three
- 1939 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind
Claire Trevor and Mercedes McCambridge both won in the 1940s1940s
- 1940 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Jane Darwell in The Grapes of Wrath
- 1941 -Oscar: Mary Astor in The Great Lie; Smackdown: [TIE] Astor and Patricia Collinge in Little Foxes
- 1942 -Oscar: Teresa Wright in Mrs Miniver; Smackdown: Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons
- 1943 -Oscar: Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls; Smackdown: Paulette Goddard in So Proudly We Hail
- 1944 -Oscar: Ethel Barrymore in None but the Lonely; Smackdown: Angela Lansbury in Gaslight
- 1945 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Anne Revere in National Velvet
- 1948 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Claire Trevor in Key Largo
- 1949 -Oscar: Mercedes McCambridge in All the King's Men; Smackdown: Ethel Waters in Pinky
Gloria Grahame won the Oscar but couldn't win her Smackdown1950s
- 1950 -Oscar: Joseph Hull in Harvey; Smackdown: Hope Emerson in Caged
- 1952 -Oscar: Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful; Smackdown: Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
- 1953 -Oscar: Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity; Smackdown: Geraldine Page in Hondo
- 1954 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront
- 1955 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Jo Van Fleet in East of Eden
- 1956 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind
- 1958 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Wendy Hiller in Separate Tables
- 1959 -Oscar: Shelley Winters in The Diary of Anne Frank; Smackdown: Juanita Moore in Imitation of Life
Ruth Gordon wins for Rosemary's Baby (1968)
1960s
- 1961 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Rita Moreno in West Side Story
- 1962 -Oscar: Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker; Smackdown: [TIE] Duke and Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate
- 1963 -Margaret Rutherford in The VIPs; Smackdown: Lilia Skala in Lilies of the Field
- 1964 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Lila Kedrova in Zorba the Greek
- 1966 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
- 1967 -Oscar: Estelle Parsons in Bonnie & Clyde; Smackdown: Katharine Ross in The Graduate
- 1968 - Oscar AND Smackdown: Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby
- 1969 -Oscar: Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower; Smackdown: Susannah York in They Shoot Horses Don't They? •
Meryl's first Oscar (Kramer vs Kramer, 1979)1970s
- 1970 -Oscar: Helen Hayes in Airport; Smackdown: Lee Grant in The Landlord
- 1971 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show
- ...1972 -NEXT UP ON AUGUST 26TH, 2018
- 1973 -Oscar: Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon; Smackdown: [TIE] O'Neal and Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon
- 1974 -Oscar: Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express; Smackdown: Valentina Cortese in Day for Night
- 1975 -Oscar: Lee Grant in Shampoo; Smackdown: [SPECIAL AWARD] The Women of Nashville
- 1976 -Oscar: Beatrice Straight in Network; Smackdown: Piper Laurie in Carrie
- 1977 - Oscar AND Smackdown: Vanessa Redgrave in Julia
- 1978 -Oscar: Maggie Smith in California Suite; Smackdown: Maureen Stapleton in Interiors
- 1979 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer
Anjelica won the Oscar but Oprah took the Smackdown for 19851980s
- 1980 -Oscar: Mary Steenburgen in Melvin & Howard; Smackdown: Eva le Galliene in Ressurection
- 1982 -Oscar: Jessica Lange in Tootsie; Smackdown: [TIE] Lange and Terri Garr in Tootsie
- 1983 -Oscar: Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously; Smackdown: [TIE] Hunt and Cher in Silkwood
- 1984 -Oscar: Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage to India; Smackdown: Christine Lahti in Swing Shift
- 1985 -Oscar: Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honor; Smackdown: Oprah Winfrey in The Color Purple
- 1988 -Oscar: Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist; Smackdown: Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl
- 1989 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Brenda Fricker in My Left Foot
Dianne Wiest won the Oscar in a landslide but just barely held on to her Smackdown1990s
- 1990 -Oscar: Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost; Smackdown: Diane Ladd in Wild at Heart
- 1992 -Oscar: Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny; Smackdown: Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives
- 1993 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Anna Paquin in The Piano
- 1994 -Oscar AND Smackdown: Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway
- 1995 -Oscar: Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite; Smackdown: Mare Winningham in Georgia
- 1996 -Oscar: Juliette Binoche in The English Patient; Smackdown: Barbara Hershey in Portrait of a Lady
- 1999 -Oscar: Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted; Smackdown: Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense
Jennifer Hudson won for her film debut in Dreamgirls. But the Smackdown went in a different surprising direction
2000s
- 2003 -Oscar:Renée Zellweger in Cold Mountain; Smackdown: Holly Hunter in thirteen
- 2006* -Oscar: Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls; Smackdown: Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
- 2007* -Oscar AND Smackdown: Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
- 2008* -Oscar AND Smackdown: Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- 2009* -Oscar AND Smackdown: Mo'nique in Precious
2010s
- 2016* -Oscar AND Smackdown: Viola Davis in Fences
- 2017* -Oscar: Allison Janney in I, Tonya; Smackdown: Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird
THE YEARS THAT HAVEN'T YET BEEN DONE
RED = years we can't do (*cries*) because at least one of the films is not available (at all) OR far too expensive to obtain for the smackdown.
1937 -Alice Brady in In Old Chicago
1938 -Fay Bainter in Jezebel
1946 -Anne Baxter in The Razor's Edge
1947 -Celeste Holm in Gentleman's Agreement
1951 -Kim Hunter in A Streetcar Named Desire
1957 -Miyoshi Umeki in Sayonara
1960 -Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry
1965 -Shelley Winters in A Patch of Blue
1981 -Maureen Stapleton in Reds
1986 -Dianne Wiest in Hannah and Her Sisters
1987 -Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck
1991 -Mercedes Ruehl in The Fisher King
1997 -Kim Basinger in LA Confidential
1998 -Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love
2000 -Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock
2001 -Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind
2002 -Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago
Which of those 12 remaining years would you most like to read a Smackdown on?
Too Recent for a Retrospective
2004 - Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
2005 - Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener
2010 - Melissa Leo in The Fighter
2011 - Octavia Spencer in The Help
2012 - Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables
2013 - Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave
2014 - Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
2015 - Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl
Reader Comments (67)
May I ask why years like 2005 are ‘too soon’ even though years after that have been done? I know those more recent years were done in a timely year-of thing, but given that the Smackdown isn’t exclusively retrospective, just not sure why the other years are ineligible. Would love to see them done eventually if the criteria ever changes. Out of the eligible years, I’d be curious about ‘86 and ‘97.
I'd love to see '91; it was my first Oscars so it holds a special place. But I concede that asking folks to watch The Prince of Tides might be a challenge.
I’d vote for 1981 and 2000 for the next cycle. Thanks for keeping this series going! FilmStruck needs to program a Smackdown series and resurrect some of the unavailable titles.
Drewb -- well, i figure if you're not doing them in year than the only other way is retrospective and retrospectives of recent stuff is weird. But i concede that at least 2005 and 2004 are maybe old enough from those titles but I'm not eager to revisit just yet.
1947 and 2002 are my picks.
I do second Drewb's question about 2004 and 2005. I can see leaving out everything in the current decade, but 14 years seems like enough time to look back on the performances.
I'm also curious as to whether or not you would be willing to revisit any of the Stinkylulu years (I recall a few had only 2 or 3 panelists).
And finally the most important question: Once you finish all of the available years, are you going to restart the series with Lead Actress?
And you answered Drewb while I was typing. So that can be ignored
1981, 1986, 1991 and 1997 are definitely years I’d like to see done.
I love this series and I'm very grateful that you have kept it going.
I like any of the 12 years left, but if I have a preference I would be very interested to see if 1996 and 1998 would come out the same. Such a shame that 1987 is listed as unavailable.
Polivamp has some good questions, any chance of re-doing some of Stinkylulu's years ?
It's always interesting to get another opinion, plus your podcasts are a real hoot.
Limiting myself to five favorites - 1960, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2002. And runner up is 1981. (OK, so six favorites.)
1997 and 2001. Then someone can explain to me how a look alike and a Wet T Shirt were worthy of Oscars.
Just because I would like to tick some boxes of never seen performances and films, I would choose 1937, 1938 and 1965.
86, 97, and 02 are deadass the ones I wanna see. Mostly because I have seen the '02 supporting films multiple times and want to really dissect Streep and Zeta-Jones' performances.
Also, which film is preventing us from discussing Dukakis's greatness in Moonstruck?!
1991. Rhuel is a co-lead. Lewis for the win.
In '72 with Shelley Winters and Jeanne Berlin are we looking at peak podcast impressions?
Years that immediately stand out to me are 47, 81, 86, 91 & 02 (just to name five). I’m defeated by the film Years that cannot be revisited but your lucky with not having to revisit the 46 nominees because wow what a mess. The years I’m most sanded to see you cannot revisit are 51 & 87. Hopefully if you ever move onto leading actress because we know supporting actor Smackdown would be the death of all us acteessexuals. I just want to hear people discuss streetcar and Hunters excellent performance.
72 promises greatness avd add me to the list of needing impressions. Might as well throw in the non nominated Madeline Kahn too.
I wish The was a way for you to complete all the years as I’m a compliesnest and seeing nominees not being revisited upsets me. I mean you’ll have to skip a Thelma Ritter nomination and as she is the face of supporting actresses that doesn’t sit right with me.
I would kill to visit 04 & 05 soon! Soon to be 14 & 15 years ago!!!
1937, with a writeup about the man who stole Alice Brady's Oscar...
Some recent bias might be at play but 2000, 01, and 02 are all pretty actressy and special in different ways. I’ll second ‘81.
Too bad on ‘60 not being available.
Wondering if it might make sense to take advantage of a panelist like Nick Davis who has an institutional affiliation for some of the “too expensive” years. So, like, have Northwestern buy the films for their library, digitize the film and build a link that can be shared with panelists. It seems like something a university would support because it directly relates to a faculty member’s research. Just thinking out loud.
Basically, I want to see a smackdown on every single year but I'd love it if you could somehow bump up 2015 just so you can take that Oscar from the Leading Lady of The Danish Girl and give it to someone else b/c that was an egregious case of category fraud if ever there was one.
I love the Smackdown!
The Smackdown is my favorite thing on the Internet (I still remember fondly getting to be a panelist many moons ago). I’ll gladly take any of these, but 1947 would be my choice if the bunch: Gloria Grahame’s best role, Marjorie Main launching a franchise, and the twin Gentleman’s Agreement nominees would make for a tight & interesting field.
catbaskets: That takes care of...I'd guess 4 of the 5 reds, making 1946 the only one that can't be done. Can't imagine a Blu-Ray printing of Saratoga Trunk ever happening.
'81 or 86 or 91 all weak years very rarely discussed on the net and 81 has many interesting choices but Joan Hackett wins easy for me,86 is considered v weak some feel Harper,Mastrantonio are souring the category so that'll be interesting esp coming up with alternatives
No more 97 we have discussed this before in various posts about 97 or Julianne Moore,Basinger won but Moore should've Weaver should been in there,Stuart is a sentimental nominee,Cusack's a wild card and Driver got pulled in with her film,I know what Nat's thoughts and most contributors here,move on.
For those who are curious about why these years aren't available here are the trouble films -- not on DVD and not streaming or prohibitively expensive
1946 -Anne Baxter in The Razor's Edge
all of these are actually available but the panelists would have to buy three of them
and rent the other two so it's prohibitively expensive.
1951 -Kim Hunter in A Streetcar Named Desire
The Blue Veil is not available
1957 -Miyoshi Umeki in Sayonara
The Bachelor Party is not available
1960 -Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is not available
1987 -Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck
Gaby a True Story is not available. (it is on vhs but most people dont have VHS players
anymore.)
I have been ITCHING to do 1960 -- probably the year I most want to do! -- so I'm upset that Dark at the Top of the Stairs isnt around. But 1965 *used to be* on the not available list and now it is so I'm excited about that. Sometimes things do turn around with various years.
For the years I know more about, I'd be very interested in 1986 (since it features one of my all-time favorite winners, and quite a mix of films) or 1998 (since I could see different panelists getting behind different performances - and since Blethyn, L. Redgrave, and Griffiths, arguably, have under-discussed careers).
But a major virtue to these is how they inform your readers about film history, and on that score both of the remaining years from the 1930s have an interesting mix of notable actresses from that time period.
I found the streaming link to Gaby.
Nathaniel:
I just saw The Blue Veil and Dark at the Top of the Stairs on the Internet on some dodgy site (probably illegal) courtesy of some copyright scofflaws. Just type the titles into Google and press on "Videos".
Maybe for years where titles are missing Nathaniel, or others, could put forward their favourite available Supporting performances that were not nominated, and whichever gets most mentions is added to the line-up. Or Nathaniel could list, say five performances, and readers could vote on which one they would like to see added.
Even with all these actressexuals, we still couldn't give Thelma Ritter an Oscar. :'(
I'd vote for 1938, 2002, and any of the 1990s. I don't particularly want to do 1947, because I don't want to revisit boring Gentleman's Agreement, but I suppose it's inevitable, since it's the only possible remaining year in the 1940s.
Ten years is more than enough to give us some perspective on any Oscar race. 2004 is great year. Incredible mimic by Blanchett vs soulful characterization by Madsen.
And it's nicevthat we're getting supporting actress covered so we can start Best Actress Smackdowns! I long for the day we can correct Rowlands' travesty loss!
Gaby, a True Story is on YouTube. Shitty quality.
2002- a great line up!
I cannot wait to revisit all of these! :)
Would love to see all of 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1998 tackled.
1998! I love all five of those actresses and, of course, Dench's win is iconically short so it'd be interesting to see what the panel thought.
Also, 1965, 1981, and 1997.
Oprah won so we deserve nothing.
I want to vote 1988, the greatest year of all. I don't care they already did it somewhere else.
I don't understand why the embargo on recent years. The films are available, and more of the blog's readers are likely to have seen the films. The two recent smackdowns of the current year's Oscar races have been interesting and have attracted lots of "chatty moviegoers'" comments.
How many of these discussions are available for download or is there a way to listen to some of them?
1981, please and thank you!
For the years that ‘can’t’ be done-invest in a combo player which gives you VHS and DVD options. Have Sayonara and Bachelor Party on VHS-upgraded to DVD with Razor’s. & Elmer Gantry. Even your local library has ‘free’ copies of The Blue Veil.
From what’s left, I nominate:
1937- Sitting through For Whom The Bells Toll again made me hunger for some 1830s simplicity,
1965-It’s never a chore to sit through The Sound Of Music again,
1986-Can all the Woody Allen demonizing withhold the quality of Hannah?,
1998-Would Judi Dench still win without Harvey’s Oscar manipulating and
2002-Initially it was MS for Adaptation, other times it’s CZJ.
You simply HAVE to do '98 and '02.
Requesting:
1937- I've seen them all!
1986- My birth year
1997- my first time getting interested in the Oscars
2002- It's going to be a competitive year
I agree with others that relatively recent years don't need to be excluded outright - though I do agree that giving things an appropriate time to marinate is a good idea. How about once 10 years go by you make the roster eligible? I see no reason why you couldn't do smackdowns for 2004 up to 2007 at this point. (Just my 2 cents - again).
Thanks again for the fabulousness that is the Smackdown!
1981 and 1991. Joan Hackett and Kate Nelligan for the wins!
1998 would be my pick! It's a shame 1992 has already been done. I'd pay to see that done all over again.
Cris -- most of the years in bold have a podcast attached (downloadable from this site). The smackdowns at Stinkylulu's never had a podcast.